Time interval between two subsequent transmission occasions of a periodic resource allocation

ABSTRACT

A base station transmits a radio resource control message. The radio resource control message comprises a periodicity parameter indicating a number of symbols for a periodic resource allocation. A downlink control information indicating activation of the periodic resource allocation is transmitted. The downlink control information comprises one or more fields indicating a numerology. The numerology indicates a symbol duration. Transport blocks are received via resources associated with the periodic resource allocation. A time interval between two subsequent transmission occasions of the periodic resource allocation is determined based on the symbol duration and the number of symbols.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 10,595,358, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/501,653, filedMay 4, 2017, which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present inventionare described herein with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting example sets of OFDM subcarriers as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example transmission time and receptiontime for two carriers in a carrier group as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting OFDM radio resources as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a base station and a wireless device as peran aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D are example diagrams for uplinkand downlink signal transmission as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example diagram for a protocol structure withmulti-connectivity as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is an example diagram for a protocol structure with CA and DC asper an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows example TAG configurations as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an example message flow in a random access process in asecondary TAG as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are example diagrams for interfaces between a 5Gcore network (e.g. NGC) and base stations (e.g. gNB and eLTE eNB) as peran aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, FIG. 11D, FIG. 11E, and FIG. 11F areexample diagrams for architectures of tight interworking between 5G RAN(e.g. gNB) and LTE RAN (e.g. (e)LTE eNB) as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, and FIG. 12C are example diagrams for radio protocolstructures of tight interworking bearers as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B are example diagrams for gNB deployment scenariosas per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an example diagram for functional split option examples ofthe centralized gNB deployment scenario as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a periodic resource allocation procedure as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a periodic resource allocation procedure as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram of an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments of the present invention enable operation of carrieraggregation. Embodiments of the technology disclosed herein may beemployed in the technical field of multicarrier communication systems.More particularly, the embodiments of the technology disclosed hereinmay relate to periodic resource allocation in a multicarriercommunication system.

The following Acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure:

ASIC application-specific integrated circuit

BPSK binary phase shift keying

CA carrier aggregation

CSI channel state information

CDMA code division multiple access

CSS common search space

CPLD complex programmable logic devices

CC component carrier

CP cyclic prefix

DL downlink

DCI downlink control information

DC dual connectivity

eMBB enhanced mobile broadband

EPC evolved packet core

E-UTRAN evolved-universal terrestrial radio access network

FPGA field programmable gate arrays

FDD frequency division multiplexing

HDL hardware description languages

HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request

IE information element

LTE long term evolution

MCG master cell group

MeNB master evolved node B

MIB master information block

MAC media access control

MAC media access control

MME mobility management entity

mMTC massive machine type communications

NAS non-access stratum

NR new radio

OFDM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing

PDCP packet data convergence protocol

PDU packet data unit

PHY physical

PDCCH physical downlink control channel

PHICH physical HARQ indicator channel

PUCCH physical uplink control channel

PUSCH physical uplink shared channel

PCell primary cell

PCell primary cell

PCC primary component carrier

PSCell primary secondary cell

pTAG primary timing advance group

QAM quadrature amplitude modulation

QPSK quadrature phase shift keying

RBG resource block groups

RLC radio link control

RRC radio resource control

RA random access

RB resource blocks

SCC secondary component carrier

SCell secondary cell

Scell secondary cells

SCG secondary cell group

SeNB secondary evolved node B

sTAGs secondary timing advance group

SDU service data unit

S-GW serving gateway

SRB signaling radio bearer

SC-OFDM single carrier-OFDM

SFN system frame number

SIB system information block

TAI tracking area identifier

TAT time alignment timer

TDD time division duplexing

TDMA time division multiple access

TA timing advance

TAG timing advance group

TTI transmission time intervalTB transport block

UL uplink

UE user equipment

URLLC ultra-reliable low-latency communications

VHDL VHSIC hardware description language

CU central unit

DU distributed unit

Fs-C Fs-control plane

Fs-U Fs-user plane

gNB next generation node B

NGC next generation core

NG CP next generation control plane core

NG-C NG-control plane

NG-U NG-user plane

NR new radio

NR MAC new radio MAC

NR PHY new radio physical

NR PDCP new radio PDCP

NR RLC new radio RLC

NR RRC new radio RRC

NSSAI network slice selection assistance information

PLMN public land mobile network

UPGW user plane gateway

Xn-C Xn-control plane

Xn-U Xn-user plane

Xx-C Xx-control plane

Xx-U Xx-user plane

Example embodiments of the invention may be implemented using variousphysical layer modulation and transmission mechanisms. Exampletransmission mechanisms may include, but are not limited to: CDMA, OFDM,TDMA, Wavelet technologies, and/or the like. Hybrid transmissionmechanisms such as TDMA/CDMA, and OFDM/CDMA may also be employed.Various modulation schemes may be applied for signal transmission in thephysical layer. Examples of modulation schemes include, but are notlimited to: phase, amplitude, code, a combination of these, and/or thelike. An example radio transmission method may implement QAM using BPSK,QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, and/or the like. Physical radiotransmission may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changingthe modulation and coding scheme depending on transmission requirementsand radio conditions.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting example sets of OFDM subcarriers as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in thisexample, arrow(s) in the diagram may depict a subcarrier in amulticarrier OFDM system. The OFDM system may use technology such asOFDM technology, DFTS-OFDM, SC-OFDM technology, or the like. Forexample, arrow 101 shows a subcarrier transmitting information symbols.FIG. 1 is for illustration purposes, and a typical multicarrier OFDMsystem may include more subcarriers in a carrier. For example, thenumber of subcarriers in a carrier may be in the range of 10 to 10,000subcarriers. FIG. 1 shows two guard bands 106 and 107 in a transmissionband. As illustrated in FIG. 1, guard band 106 is between subcarriers103 and subcarriers 104. The example set of subcarriers A 102 includessubcarriers 103 and subcarriers 104. FIG. 1 also illustrates an exampleset of subcarriers B 105. As illustrated, there is no guard band betweenany two subcarriers in the example set of subcarriers B 105. Carriers ina multicarrier OFDM communication system may be contiguous carriers,non-contiguous carriers, or a combination of both contiguous andnon-contiguous carriers.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example transmission time and receptiontime for two carriers as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention. A multicarrier OFDM communication system may include one ormore carriers, for example, ranging from 1 to 10 carriers. Carrier A 204and carrier B 205 may have the same or different timing structures.Although FIG. 2 shows two synchronized carriers, carrier A 204 andcarrier B 205 may or may not be synchronized with each other. Differentradio frame structures may be supported for FDD and TDD duplexmechanisms. FIG. 2 shows an example FDD frame timing. Downlink anduplink transmissions may be organized into radio frames 201. In thisexample, radio frame duration is 10 msec. Other frame durations, forexample, in the range of 1 to 100 msec may also be supported. In thisexample, each 10 ms radio frame 201 may be divided into ten equallysized subframes 202. Other subframe durations such as including 0.5msec, 1 msec, 2 msec, and 5 msec may also be supported. Subframe(s) mayconsist of two or more slots (e.g. slots 206 and 207). For the exampleof FDD, 10 subframes may be available for downlink transmission and 10subframes may be available for uplink transmissions in each 10 msinterval. Uplink and downlink transmissions may be separated in thefrequency domain. A slot may be 7 or 14 OFDM symbols for the samesubcarrier spacing of up to 60 kHz with normal CP. A slot may be 14 OFDMsymbols for the same subcarrier spacing higher than 60 kHz with normalCP. A slot may contain all downlink, all uplink, or a downlink part andan uplink part and/or alike. Slot aggregation may be supported, e.g.,data transmission may be scheduled to span one or multiple slots. In anexample, a mini-slot may start at an OFDM symbol in a subframe. Amini-slot may have a duration of one or more OFDM symbols. Slot(s) mayinclude a plurality of OFDM symbols 203. The number of OFDM symbols 203in a slot 206 may depend on the cyclic prefix length and subcarrierspacing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting OFDM radio resources as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present invention. The resource grid structure intime 304 and frequency 305 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The quantity ofdownlink subcarriers or RBs may depend, at least in part, on thedownlink transmission bandwidth 306 configured in the cell. The smallestradio resource unit may be called a resource element (e.g. 301).Resource elements may be grouped into resource blocks (e.g. 302).Resource blocks may be grouped into larger radio resources calledResource Block Groups (RBG) (e.g. 303). The transmitted signal in slot206 may be described by one or several resource grids of a plurality ofsubcarriers and a plurality of OFDM symbols. Resource blocks may be usedto describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resourceelements. Other pre-defined groupings of physical resource elements maybe implemented in the system depending on the radio technology. Forexample, 24 subcarriers may be grouped as a radio block for a durationof 5 msec. In an illustrative example, a resource block may correspondto one slot in the time domain and 180 kHz in the frequency domain (for15 KHz subcarrier bandwidth and 12 subcarriers).

In an example embodiment, multiple numerologies may be supported. In anexample, a numerology may be derived by scaling a basic subcarrierspacing by an integer N. In an example, scalable numerology may allow atleast from 15 kHz to 480 kHz subcarrier spacing. The numerology with 15kHz and scaled numerology with different subcarrier spacing with thesame CP overhead may align at a symbol boundary every 1 ms in a NRcarrier.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D are example diagrams for uplinkand downlink signal transmission as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. FIG. 5A shows an example uplink physical channel.The baseband signal representing the physical uplink shared channel mayperform the following processes. These functions are illustrated asexamples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implementedin various embodiments. The functions may comprise scrambling,modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued symbols, mappingof the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or severaltransmission layers, transform precoding to generate complex-valuedsymbols, precoding of the complex-valued symbols, mapping of precodedcomplex-valued symbols to resource elements, generation ofcomplex-valued time-domain DFTS-OFDM/SC-FDMA signal for each antennaport, and/or the like.

Example modulation and up-conversion to the carrier frequency of thecomplex-valued DFTS-OFDM/SC-FDMA baseband signal for each antenna portand/or the complex-valued PRACH baseband signal is shown in FIG. 5B.Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

An example structure for Downlink Transmissions is shown in FIG. 5C. Thebaseband signal representing a downlink physical channel may perform thefollowing processes. These functions are illustrated as examples and itis anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in variousembodiments. The functions include scrambling of coded bits in each ofthe codewords to be transmitted on a physical channel; modulation ofscrambled bits to generate complex-valued modulation symbols; mapping ofthe complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmissionlayers; precoding of the complex-valued modulation symbols on each layerfor transmission on the antenna ports; mapping of complex-valuedmodulation symbols for each antenna port to resource elements;generation of complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal for each antennaport, and/or the like.

Example modulation and up-conversion to the carrier frequency of thecomplex-valued OFDM baseband signal for each antenna port is shown inFIG. 5D. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of a base station 401 and a wirelessdevice 406, as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.A communication network 400 may include at least one base station 401and at least one wireless device 406. The base station 401 may includeat least one communication interface 402, at least one processor 403,and at least one set of program code instructions 405 stored innon-transitory memory 404 and executable by the at least one processor403. The wireless device 406 may include at least one communicationinterface 407, at least one processor 408, and at least one set ofprogram code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 andexecutable by the at least one processor 408. Communication interface402 in base station 401 may be configured to engage in communicationwith communication interface 407 in wireless device 406 via acommunication path that includes at least one wireless link 411.Wireless link 411 may be a bi-directional link. Communication interface407 in wireless device 406 may also be configured to engage in acommunication with communication interface 402 in base station 401. Basestation 401 and wireless device 406 may be configured to send andreceive data over wireless link 411 using multiple frequency carriers.According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, transceiver(s)may be employed. A transceiver is a device that includes both atransmitter and receiver. Transceivers may be employed in devices suchas wireless devices, base stations, relay nodes, and/or the like.Example embodiments for radio technology implemented in communicationinterface 402, 407 and wireless link 411 are illustrated are FIG. 1,FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 5, and associated text.

An interface may be a hardware interface, a firmware interface, asoftware interface, and/or a combination thereof. The hardware interfacemay include connectors, wires, electronic devices such as drivers,amplifiers, and/or the like. A software interface may include codestored in a memory device to implement protocol(s), protocol layers,communication drivers, device drivers, combinations thereof, and/or thelike. A firmware interface may include a combination of embeddedhardware and code stored in and/or in communication with a memory deviceto implement connections, electronic device operations, protocol(s),protocol layers, communication drivers, device drivers, hardwareoperations, combinations thereof, and/or the like.

The term configured may relate to the capacity of a device whether thedevice is in an operational or non-operational state. Configured mayalso refer to specific settings in a device that effect the operationalcharacteristics of the device whether the device is in an operational ornon-operational state. In other words, the hardware, software, firmware,registers, memory values, and/or the like may be “configured” within adevice, whether the device is in an operational or nonoperational state,to provide the device with specific characteristics. Terms such as “acontrol message to cause in a device” may mean that a control messagehas parameters that may be used to configure specific characteristics inthe device, whether the device is in an operational or non-operationalstate.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, a 5G networkmay include a multitude of base stations, providing a user plane NRPDCP/NR RLC/NR MAC/NR PHY and control plane (NR RRC) protocolterminations towards the wireless device. The base station(s) may beinterconnected with other base station(s) (e.g. employing an Xninterface). The base stations may also be connected employing, forexample, an NG interface to an NGC. FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are examplediagrams for interfaces between a 5G core network (e.g. NGC) and basestations (e.g. gNB and eLTE eNB) as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present invention. For example, the base stations may beinterconnected to the NGC control plane (e.g. NG CP) employing the NG-Cinterface and to the NGC user plane (e.g. UPGW) employing the NG-Uinterface. The NG interface may support a many-to-many relation between5G core networks and base stations.

A base station may include many sectors for example: 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6sectors. A base station may include many cells, for example, rangingfrom 1 to 50 cells or more. A cell may be categorized, for example, as aprimary cell or secondary cell. At RRC connectionestablishment/re-establishment/handover, one serving cell may providethe NAS (non-access stratum) mobility information (e.g. TAI), and at RRCconnection re-establishment/handover, one serving cell may provide thesecurity input. This cell may be referred to as the Primary Cell(PCell). In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell may bethe Downlink Primary Component Carrier (DL PCC), while in the uplink, itmay be the Uplink Primary Component Carrier (UL PCC). Depending onwireless device capabilities, Secondary Cells (SCells) may be configuredto form together with the PCell a set of serving cells. In the downlink,the carrier corresponding to an SCell may be a Downlink SecondaryComponent Carrier (DL SCC), while in the uplink, it may be an UplinkSecondary Component Carrier (UL SCC). An SCell may or may not have anuplink carrier.

A cell, comprising a downlink carrier and optionally an uplink carrier,may be assigned a physical cell ID and a cell index. A carrier (downlinkor uplink) may belong to only one cell. The cell ID or Cell index mayalso identify the downlink carrier or uplink carrier of the cell(depending on the context it is used). In the specification, cell ID maybe equally referred to a carrier ID, and cell index may be referred tocarrier index. In implementation, the physical cell ID or cell index maybe assigned to a cell. A cell ID may be determined using asynchronization signal transmitted on a downlink carrier. A cell indexmay be determined using RRC messages. For example, when thespecification refers to a first physical cell ID for a first downlinkcarrier, the specification may mean the first physical cell ID is for acell comprising the first downlink carrier. The same concept may applyto, for example, carrier activation. When the specification indicatesthat a first carrier is activated, the specification may equally meanthat the cell comprising the first carrier is activated.

Embodiments may be configured to operate as needed. The disclosedmechanism may be performed when certain criteria are met, for example,in a wireless device, a base station, a radio environment, a network, acombination of the above, and/or the like. Example criteria may bebased, at least in part, on for example, traffic load, initial systemset up, packet sizes, traffic characteristics, a combination of theabove, and/or the like. When the one or more criteria are met, variousexample embodiments may be applied. Therefore, it may be possible toimplement example embodiments that selectively implement disclosedprotocols.

A base station may communicate with a mix of wireless devices. Wirelessdevices may support multiple technologies, and/or multiple releases ofthe same technology. Wireless devices may have some specificcapability(ies) depending on its wireless device category and/orcapability(ies). A base station may comprise multiple sectors. When thisdisclosure refers to a base station communicating with a plurality ofwireless devices, this disclosure may refer to a subset of the totalwireless devices in a coverage area. This disclosure may refer to, forexample, a plurality of wireless devices of a given LTE or 5G releasewith a given capability and in a given sector of the base station. Theplurality of wireless devices in this disclosure may refer to a selectedplurality of wireless devices, and/or a subset of total wireless devicesin a coverage area which perform according to disclosed methods, and/orthe like. There may be a plurality of wireless devices in a coveragearea that may not comply with the disclosed methods, for example,because those wireless devices perform based on older releases of LTE or5G technology.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are example diagrams for protocol structure with CAand multi-connectivity as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention. NR may support multi-connectivity operation whereby amultiple RX/TX UE in RRC CONNECTED may be configured to utilize radioresources provided by multiple schedulers located in multiple gNBsconnected via a non-ideal or ideal backhaul over the Xn interface. gNBsinvolved in multi-connectivity for a certain UE may assume two differentroles: a gNB may either act as a master gNB or as a secondary gNB. Inmulti-connectivity, a UE may be connected to one master gNB and one ormore secondary gNBs. FIG. 7 illustrates one example structure for the UEside MAC entities when a Master Cell Group (MCG) and a Secondary CellGroup (SCG) are configured, and it may not restrict implementation.Media Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) reception is not shown in thisfigure for simplicity.

In multi-connectivity, the radio protocol architecture that a particularbearer uses may depend on how the bearer is setup. Three alternativesmay exist, an MCG bearer, an SCG bearer and a split bearer as shown inFIG. 6. NR RRC may be located in master gNB and SRBs may be configuredas a MCG bearer type and may use the radio resources of the master gNB.Multi-connectivity may also be described as having at least one bearerconfigured to use radio resources provided by the secondary gNB.Multi-connectivity may or may not be configured/implemented in exampleembodiments of the invention.

In the case of multi-connectivity, the UE may be configured withmultiple NR MAC entities: one NR MAC entity for master gNB, and other NRMAC entities for secondary gNBs. In multi-connectivity, the configuredset of serving cells for a UE may comprise of two subsets: the MasterCell Group (MCG) containing the serving cells of the master gNB, and theSecondary Cell Groups (SCGs) containing the serving cells of thesecondary gNBs. For a SCG, one or more of the following may be applied:at least one cell in the SCG has a configured UL CC and one of them,named PSCell (or PCell of SCG, or sometimes called PCell), is configuredwith PUCCH resources; when the SCG is configured, there may be at leastone SCG bearer or one Split bearer; upon detection of a physical layerproblem or a random access problem on a PSCell, or the maximum number ofNR RLC retransmissions has been reached associated with the SCG, or upondetection of an access problem on a PSCell during a SCG addition or aSCG change: a RRC connection re-establishment procedure may not betriggered, UL transmissions towards cells of the SCG are stopped, amaster gNB may be informed by the UE of a SCG failure type, for splitbearer, the DL data transfer over the master gNB is maintained; the NRRLC AM bearer may be configured for the split bearer; like PCell, PSCellmay not be de-activated; PSCell may be changed with a SCG change (e.g.with security key change and a RACH procedure); and/or a direct bearertype change between a Split bearer and a SCG bearer or simultaneousconfiguration of a SCG and a Split bearer may or may not supported.

With respect to the interaction between a master gNB and secondary gNBsfor multi-connectivity, one or more of the following principles may beapplied: the master gNB may maintain the RRM measurement configurationof the UE and may, (e.g, based on received measurement reports ortraffic conditions or bearer types), decide to ask a secondary gNB toprovide additional resources (serving cells) for a UE; upon receiving arequest from the master gNB, a secondary gNB may create a container thatmay result in the configuration of additional serving cells for the UE(or decide that it has no resource available to do so); for UEcapability coordination, the master gNB may provide (part of) the ASconfiguration and the UE capabilities to the secondary gNB; the mastergNB and the secondary gNB may exchange information about a UEconfiguration by employing of NR RRC containers (inter-node messages)carried in Xn messages; the secondary gNB may initiate a reconfigurationof its existing serving cells (e.g., PUCCH towards the secondary gNB);the secondary gNB may decide which cell is the PSCell within the SCG;the master gNB may or may not change the content of the NR RRCconfiguration provided by the secondary gNB; in the case of a SCGaddition and a SCG SCell addition, the master gNB may provide the latestmeasurement results for the SCG cell(s); both a master gNB and secondarygNBs may know the SFN and subframe offset of each other by OAM, (e.g.,for the purpose of DRX alignment and identification of a measurementgap). In an example, when adding a new SCG SCell, dedicated NR RRCsignaling may be used for sending required system information of thecell as for CA, except for the SFN acquired from a MIB of the PSCell ofa SCG.

In an example, serving cells may be grouped in a TA group (TAG). Servingcells in one TAG may use the same timing reference. For a given TAG,user equipment (UE) may use at least one downlink carrier as a timingreference. For a given TAG, a UE may synchronize uplink subframe andframe transmission timing of uplink carriers belonging to the same TAG.In an example, serving cells having an uplink to which the same TAapplies may correspond to serving cells hosted by the same receiver. AUE supporting multiple TAs may support two or more TA groups. One TAgroup may contain the PCell and may be called a primary TAG (pTAG). In amultiple TAG configuration, at least one TA group may not contain thePCell and may be called a secondary TAG (sTAG). In an example, carrierswithin the same TA group may use the same TA value and/or the sametiming reference. When DC is configured, cells belonging to a cell group(MCG or SCG) may be grouped into multiple TAGs including a pTAG and oneor more sTAGs.

FIG. 8 shows example TAG configurations as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention. In Example 1, pTAG comprises PCell,and an sTAG comprises SCell1. In Example 2, a pTAG comprises a PCell andSCell1, and an sTAG comprises SCell2 and SCell3. In Example 3, pTAGcomprises PCell and SCell1, and an sTAG1 includes SCell2 and SCell3, andsTAG2 comprises SCell4. Up to four TAGs may be supported in a cell group(MCG or SCG) and other example TAG configurations may also be provided.In various examples in this disclosure, example mechanisms are describedfor a pTAG and an sTAG. Some of the example mechanisms may be applied toconfigurations with multiple sTAGs.

In an example, an eNB may initiate an RA procedure via a PDCCH order foran activated SCell. This PDCCH order may be sent on a scheduling cell ofthis SCell. When cross carrier scheduling is configured for a cell, thescheduling cell may be different than the cell that is employed forpreamble transmission, and the PDCCH order may include an SCell index.At least a non-contention based RA procedure may be supported forSCell(s) assigned to sTAG(s).

FIG. 9 is an example message flow in a random access process in asecondary TAG as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentinvention. An eNB transmits an activation command 600 to activate anSCell. A preamble 602 (Msg1) may be sent by a UE in response to a PDCCHorder 601 on an SCell belonging to an sTAG. In an example embodiment,preamble transmission for SCells may be controlled by the network usingPDCCH format 1A. Msg2 message 603 (RAR: random access response) inresponse to the preamble transmission on the SCell may be addressed toRA-RNTI in a PCell common search space (CSS). Uplink packets 604 may betransmitted on the SCell in which the preamble was transmitted.

According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, initial timingalignment may be achieved through a random access procedure. This mayinvolve a UE transmitting a random access preamble and an eNB respondingwith an initial TA command NTA (amount of timing advance) within arandom access response window. The start of the random access preamblemay be aligned with the start of a corresponding uplink subframe at theUE assuming NTA=0. The eNB may estimate the uplink timing from therandom access preamble transmitted by the UE. The TA command may bederived by the eNB based on the estimation of the difference between thedesired UL timing and the actual UL timing. The UE may determine theinitial uplink transmission timing relative to the correspondingdownlink of the sTAG on which the preamble is transmitted.

The mapping of a serving cell to a TAG may be configured by a servingeNB with RRC signaling. The mechanism for TAG configuration andreconfiguration may be based on RRC signaling. According to some of thevarious aspects of embodiments, when an eNB performs an SCell additionconfiguration, the related TAG configuration may be configured for theSCell. In an example embodiment, an eNB may modify the TAG configurationof an SCell by removing (releasing) the SCell and adding(configuring) anew SCell (with the same physical cell ID and frequency) with an updatedTAG ID. The new SCell with the updated TAG ID may initially be inactivesubsequent to being assigned the updated TAG ID. The eNB may activatethe updated new SCell and start scheduling packets on the activatedSCell. In an example implementation, it may not be possible to changethe TAG associated with an SCell, but rather, the SCell may need to beremoved and a new SCell may need to be added with another TAG. Forexample, if there is a need to move an SCell from an sTAG to a pTAG, atleast one RRC message, for example, at least one RRC reconfigurationmessage, may be send to the UE to reconfigure TAG configurations byreleasing the SCell and then configuring the SCell as a part of the pTAG(when an SCell is added/configured without a TAG index, the SCell may beexplicitly assigned to the pTAG). The PCell may not change its TA groupand may be a member of the pTAG.

The purpose of an RRC connection reconfiguration procedure may be tomodify an RRC connection, (e.g. to establish, modify and/or release RBs,to perform handover, to setup, modify, and/or release measurements, toadd, modify, and/or release SCells). If the received RRC ConnectionReconfiguration message includes the sCellToReleaseList, the UE mayperform an SCell release. If the received RRC Connection Reconfigurationmessage includes the sCellToAddModList, the UE may perform SCelladditions or modification.

In LTE Release-10 and Release-11 CA, a PUCCH is only transmitted on thePCell (PSCell) to an eNB. In LTE-Release 12 and earlier, a UE maytransmit PUCCH information on one cell (PCell or PSCell) to a given eNB.

As the number of CA capable UEs and also the number of aggregatedcarriers increase, the number of PUCCHs and also the PUCCH payload sizemay increase. Accommodating the PUCCH transmissions on the PCell maylead to a high PUCCH load on the PCell. A PUCCH on an SCell may beintroduced to offload the PUCCH resource from the PCell. More than onePUCCH may be configured for example, a PUCCH on a PCell and anotherPUCCH on an SCell. In the example embodiments, one, two or more cellsmay be configured with PUCCH resources for transmitting CSI/ACK/NACK toa base station. Cells may be grouped into multiple PUCCH groups, and oneor more cell within a group may be configured with a PUCCH. In anexample configuration, one SCell may belong to one PUCCH group. SCellswith a configured PUCCH transmitted to a base station may be called aPUCCH SCell, and a cell group with a common PUCCH resource transmittedto the same base station may be called a PUCCH group.

In an example embodiment, a MAC entity may have a configurable timertimeAlignmentTimer per TAG. The timeAlignmentTimer may be used tocontrol how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging tothe associated TAG to be uplink time aligned. The MAC entity may, when aTiming Advance Command MAC control element is received, apply the TimingAdvance Command for the indicated TAG; start or restart thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with the indicated TAG. The MAC entitymay, when a Timing Advance Command is received in a Random AccessResponse message for a serving cell belonging to a TAG and/or if theRandom Access Preamble was not selected by the MAC entity, apply theTiming Advance Command for this TAG and start or restart thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG. Otherwise, if thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG is not running, the TimingAdvance Command for this TAG may be applied and the timeAlignmentTimerassociated with this TAG started. When the contention resolution isconsidered not successful, a timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAGmay be stopped. Otherwise, the MAC entity may ignore the received TimingAdvance Command.

In example embodiments, a timer is running once it is started, until itis stopped or until it expires; otherwise it may not be running. A timercan be started if it is not running or restarted if it is running. Forexample, a timer may be started or restarted from its initial value.

Example embodiments of the invention may enable operation ofmulti-carrier communications. Other example embodiments may comprise anon-transitory tangible computer readable media comprising instructionsexecutable by one or more processors to cause operation of multi-carriercommunications. Yet other example embodiments may comprise an article ofmanufacture that comprises a non-transitory tangible computer readablemachine-accessible medium having instructions encoded thereon forenabling programmable hardware to cause a device (e.g. wirelesscommunicator, UE, base station, etc.) to enable operation ofmulti-carrier communications. The device may include processors, memory,interfaces, and/or the like. Other example embodiments may comprisecommunication networks comprising devices such as base stations,wireless devices (or user equipment: UE), servers, switches, antennas,and/or the like.

FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, FIG. 11D, FIG. 11E, and FIG. 11F areexample diagrams for architectures of tight interworking between 5G RANand LTE RAN as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention.The tight interworking may enable a multiple RX/TX UE in RRC CONNECTEDto be configured to utilize radio resources provided by two schedulerslocated in two base stations (e.g. (e)LTE eNB and gNB) connected via anon-ideal or ideal backhaul over the Xx interface between LTE eNB andgNB or the Xn interface between eLTE eNB and gNB. Base stations involvedin tight interworking for a certain UE may assume two different roles: abase station may either act as a master base station or as a secondarybase station. In tight interworking, a UE may be connected to one masterbase station and one secondary base station. Mechanisms implemented intight interworking may be extended to cover more than two base stations.

In FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, a master base station may be an LTE eNB, whichmay be connected to EPC nodes (e.g. to an MME via the S1-C interface andto an S-GW via the S1-U interface), and a secondary base station may bea gNB, which may be a non-standalone node having a control planeconnection via an Xx-C interface to an LTE eNB. In the tightinterworking architecture of FIG. 11A, a user plane for a gNB may beconnected to an S-GW through an LTE eNB via an Xx-U interface betweenLTE eNB and gNB and an S1-U interface between LTE eNB and S-GW. In thearchitecture of FIG. 11B, a user plane for a gNB may be connecteddirectly to an S-GW via an S1-U interface between gNB and S-GW.

In FIG. 11C and FIG. 11D, a master base station may be a gNB, which maybe connected to NGC nodes (e.g. to a control plane core node via theNG-C interface and to a user plane core node via the NG-U interface),and a secondary base station may be an eLTE eNB, which may be anon-standalone node having a control plane connection via an Xn-Cinterface to a gNB. In the tight interworking architecture of FIG. 11C,a user plane for an eLTE eNB may be connected to a user plane core nodethrough a gNB via an Xn-U interface between eLTE eNB and gNB and an NG-Uinterface between gNB and user plane core node. In the architecture ofFIG. 11D, a user plane for an eLTE eNB may be connected directly to auser plane core node via an NG-U interface between eLTE eNB and userplane core node.

In FIG. 11E and FIG. 11F, a master base station may be an eLTE eNB,which may be connected to NGC nodes (e.g. to a control plane core nodevia the NG-C interface and to a user plane core node via the NG-Uinterface), and a secondary base station may be a gNB, which may be anon-standalone node having a control plane connection via an Xn-Cinterface to an eLTE eNB. In the tight interworking architecture of FIG.11E, a user plane for a gNB may be connected to a user plane core nodethrough an eLTE eNB via an Xn-U interface between eLTE eNB and gNB andan NG-U interface between eLTE eNB and user plane core node. In thearchitecture of FIG. 11F, a user plane for a gNB may be connecteddirectly to a user plane core node via an NG-U interface between gNB anduser plane core node.

FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, and FIG. 12C are example diagrams for radio protocolstructures of tight interworking bearers as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 12A, an LTE eNB may be amaster base station, and a gNB may be a secondary base station. In FIG.12B, a gNB may be a master base station, and an eLTE eNB may be asecondary base station. In FIG. 12C, an eLTE eNB may be a master basestation, and a gNB may be a secondary base station. In 5G network, theradio protocol architecture that a particular bearer uses may depend onhow the bearer is setup. Three alternatives may exist, an MCG bearer, anSCG bearer, and a split bearer as shown in FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, and FIG.12C. NR RRC may be located in master base station, and SRBs may beconfigured as an MCG bearer type and may use the radio resources of themaster base station. Tight interworking may also be described as havingat least one bearer configured to use radio resources provided by thesecondary base station. Tight interworking may or may not beconfigured/implemented in example embodiments of the invention.

In the case of tight interworking, the UE may be configured with two MACentities: one MAC entity for master base station, and one MAC entity forsecondary base station. In tight interworking, the configured set ofserving cells for a UE may comprise of two subsets: the Master CellGroup (MCG) containing the serving cells of the master base station, andthe Secondary Cell Group (SCG) containing the serving cells of thesecondary base station. For a SCG, one or more of the following may beapplied: at least one cell in the SCG has a configured UL CC and one ofthem, named PSCell (or PCell of SCG, or sometimes called PCell), isconfigured with PUCCH resources; when the SCG is configured, there maybe at least one SCG bearer or one split bearer; upon detection of aphysical layer problem or a random access problem on a PSCell, or themaximum number of (NR) RLC retransmissions has been reached associatedwith the SCG, or upon detection of an access problem on a PSCell duringa SCG addition or a SCG change: a RRC connection re-establishmentprocedure may not be triggered, UL transmissions towards cells of theSCG are stopped, a master base station may be informed by the UE of aSCG failure type, for split bearer, the DL data transfer over the masterbase station is maintained; the RLC AM bearer may be configured for thesplit bearer; like PCell, PSCell may not be de-activated; PSCell may bechanged with a SCG change (e.g. with security key change and a RACHprocedure); and/or neither a direct bearer type change between a Splitbearer and a SCG bearer nor simultaneous configuration of a SCG and aSplit bearer are supported.

With respect to the interaction between a master base station and asecondary base station, one or more of the following principles may beapplied: the master base station may maintain the RRM measurementconfiguration of the UE and may, (e.g, based on received measurementreports, traffic conditions, or bearer types), decide to ask a secondarybase station to provide additional resources (serving cells) for a UE;upon receiving a request from the master base station, a secondary basestation may create a container that may result in the configuration ofadditional serving cells for the UE (or decide that it has no resourceavailable to do so); for UE capability coordination, the master basestation may provide (part of) the AS configuration and the UEcapabilities to the secondary base station; the master base station andthe secondary base station may exchange information about a UEconfiguration by employing of RRC containers (inter-node messages)carried in Xn or Xx messages; the secondary base station may initiate areconfiguration of its existing serving cells (e.g., PUCCH towards thesecondary base station); the secondary base station may decide whichcell is the PSCell within the SCG; the master base station may notchange the content of the RRC configuration provided by the secondarybase station; in the case of a SCG addition and a SCG SCell addition,the master base station may provide the latest measurement results forthe SCG cell(s); both a master base station and a secondary base stationmay know the SFN and subframe offset of each other by OAM, (e.g., forthe purpose of DRX alignment and identification of a measurement gap).In an example, when adding a new SCG SCell, dedicated RRC signaling maybe used for sending required system information of the cell as for CA,except for the SFN acquired from a MIB of the PSCell of a SCG.

FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B are example diagrams for gNB deployment scenariosas per an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention. In thenon-centralized deployment scenario in FIG. 13A, the full protocol stack(e.g. NR RRC, NR PDCP, NR RLC, NR MAC, and NR PHY) may be supported atone node. In the centralized deployment scenario in FIG. 13B, upperlayers of gNB may be located in a Central Unit (CU), and lower layers ofgNB may be located in Distributed Units (DU). The CU-DU interface (e.g.Fs interface) connecting CU and DU may be ideal or non-ideal. Fs-C mayprovide a control plane connection over Fs interface, and Fs-U mayprovide a user plane connection over Fs interface. In the centralizeddeployment, different functional split options between CU and DUs may bepossible by locating different protocol layers (RAN functions) in CU andDU. The functional split may support flexibility to move RAN functionsbetween CU and DU depending on service requirements and/or networkenvironments. The functional split option may change during operationafter Fs interface setup procedure, or may change only in Fs setupprocedure (i.e. static during operation after Fs setup procedure).

FIG. 14 is an example diagram for different functional split optionexamples of the centralized gNB deployment scenario as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present invention. In the split option example 1,an NR RRC may be in CU, and NR PDCP, NR RLC, NR MAC, NR PHY, and RF maybe in DU. In the split option example 2, an NR RRC and NR PDCP may be inCU, and NR RLC, NR MAC, NR PHY, and RF may be in DU. In the split optionexample 3, an NR RRC, NR PDCP, and partial function of NR RLC may be inCU, and the other partial function of NR RLC, NR MAC, NR PHY, and RF maybe in DU. In the split option example 4, an NR RRC, NR PDCP, and NR RLCmay be in CU, and NR MAC, NR PHY, and RF may be in DU. In the splitoption example 5, an NR RRC, NR PDCP, NR RLC, and partial function of NRMAC may be in CU, and the other partial function of NR MAC, NR PHY, andRF may be in DU. In the split option example 6, an NR RRC, NR PDCP, NRRLC, and NR MAC may be in CU, and NR PHY and RF may be in DU. In thesplit option example 7, an NR RRC, NR PDCP, NR RLC, NR MAC, and partialfunction of NR PHY may be in CU, and the other partial function of NRPHY and RF may be in DU. In the split option example 8, an NR RRC, NRPDCP, NR RLC, NR MAC, and NR PHY may be in CU, and RF may be in DU.

The functional split may be configured per CU, per DU, per UE, perbearer, per slice, or with other granularities. In per CU split, a CUmay have a fixed split, and DUs may be configured to match the splitoption of CU. In per DU split, each DU may be configured with adifferent split, and a CU may provide different split options fordifferent DUs. In per UE split, a gNB (CU and DU) may provide differentsplit options for different UEs. In per bearer split, different splitoptions may be utilized for different bearer types. In per slice splice,different split options may be applied for different slices.

In an example embodiment, the new radio access network (new RAN) maysupport different network slices, which may allow differentiatedtreatment customized to support different service requirements with endto end scope. The new RAN may provide a differentiated handling oftraffic for different network slices that may be pre-configured, and mayallow a single RAN node to support multiple slices. The new RAN maysupport selection of a RAN part for a given network slice, by one ormore slice ID(s) or NSSAI(s) provided by a UE or a NGC (e.g. NG CP). Theslice ID(s) or NSSAI(s) may identify one or more of pre-configurednetwork slices in a PLMN. For initial attach, a UE may provide a sliceID and/or an NSSAI, and a RAN node (e.g. gNB) may use the slice ID orthe NSSAI for routing an initial NAS signaling to an NGC control planefunction (e.g. NG CP). If a UE does not provide any slice ID or NSSAI, aRAN node may send a NAS signaling to a default NGC control planefunction. For subsequent accesses, the UE may provide a temporary ID fora slice identification, which may be assigned by the NGC control planefunction, to enable a RAN node to route the NAS message to a relevantNGC control plane function. The new RAN may support resource isolationbetween slices. The RAN resource isolation may be achieved by avoidingthat shortage of shared resources in one slice breaks a service levelagreement for another slice.

The amount of data traffic carried over cellular networks is expected toincrease for many years to come. The number of users/devices isincreasing and each user/device accesses an increasing number andvariety of services, e.g. video delivery, large files, images. Thisrequires not only high capacity in the network, but also provisioningvery high data rates to meet customers' expectations on interactivityand responsiveness. More spectrum is therefore needed for cellularoperators to meet the increasing demand. Considering user expectationsof high data rates along with seamless mobility, it is beneficial thatmore spectrum be made available for deploying macro cells as well assmall cells for cellular systems.

Striving to meet the market demands, there has been increasing interestfrom operators in deploying some complementary access utilizingunlicensed spectrum to meet the traffic growth. This is exemplified bythe large number of operator-deployed Wi-Fi networks and the 3GPPstandardization of LTE/WLAN interworking solutions. This interestindicates that unlicensed spectrum, when present, can be an effectivecomplement to licensed spectrum for cellular operators to helpaddressing the traffic explosion in some scenarios, such as hotspotareas. LAA offers an alternative for operators to make use of unlicensedspectrum while managing one radio network, thus offering newpossibilities for optimizing the network's efficiency.

In an example embodiment, Listen-before-talk (clear channel assessment)may be implemented for transmission in an LAA cell. In alisten-before-talk (LBT) procedure, equipment may apply a clear channelassessment (CCA) check before using the channel. For example, the CCAutilizes at least energy detection to determine the presence or absenceof other signals on a channel in order to determine if a channel isoccupied or clear, respectively. For example, European and Japaneseregulations mandate the usage of LBT in the unlicensed bands. Apart fromregulatory requirements, carrier sensing via LBT may be one way for fairsharing of the unlicensed spectrum.

In an example embodiment, discontinuous transmission on an unlicensedcarrier with limited maximum transmission duration may be enabled. Someof these functions may be supported by one or more signals to betransmitted from the beginning of a discontinuous LAA downlinktransmission. Channel reservation may be enabled by the transmission ofsignals, by an LAA node, after gaining channel access via a successfulLBT operation, so that other nodes that receive the transmitted signalwith energy above a certain threshold sense the channel to be occupied.Functions that may need to be supported by one or more signals for LAAoperation with discontinuous downlink transmission may include one ormore of the following: detection of the LAA downlink transmission(including cell identification) by UEs; time & frequency synchronizationof UEs.

In an example embodiment, DL LAA design may employ subframe boundaryalignment according to LTE-A carrier aggregation timing relationshipsacross serving cells aggregated by CA. This may not imply that the eNBtransmissions can start only at the subframe boundary. LAA may supporttransmitting PDSCH when not all OFDM symbols are available fortransmission in a subframe according to LBT. Delivery of necessarycontrol information for the PDSCH may also be supported.

LBT procedure may be employed for fair and friendly coexistence of LAAwith other operators and technologies operating in unlicensed spectrum.LBT procedures on a node attempting to transmit on a carrier inunlicensed spectrum require the node to perform a clear channelassessment to determine if the channel is free for use. An LBT proceduremay involve at least energy detection to determine if the channel isbeing used. For example, regulatory requirements in some regions, e.g.,in Europe, specify an energy detection threshold such that if a nodereceives energy greater than this threshold, the node assumes that thechannel is not free. While nodes may follow such regulatoryrequirements, a node may optionally use a lower threshold for energydetection than that specified by regulatory requirements. In an example,LAA may employ a mechanism to adaptively change the energy detectionthreshold, e.g., LAA may employ a mechanism to adaptively lower theenergy detection threshold from an upper bound. Adaptation mechanism maynot preclude static or semi-static setting of the threshold. In anexample Category 4 LBT mechanism or other type of LBT mechanisms may beimplemented.

Various example LBT mechanisms may be implemented. In an example, forsome signals, in some implementation scenarios, in some situations,and/or in some frequencies no LBT procedure may performed by thetransmitting entity. In an example, Category 2 (e.g. LBT without randomback-off) may be implemented. The duration of time that the channel issensed to be idle before the transmitting entity transmits may bedeterministic. In an example, Category 3 (e.g. LBT with random back-offwith a contention window of fixed size) may be implemented. The LBTprocedure may have the following procedure as one of its components. Thetransmitting entity may draw a random number N within a contentionwindow. The size of the contention window may be specified by theminimum and maximum value of N. The size of the contention window may befixed. The random number N may be employed in the LBT procedure todetermine the duration of time that the channel is sensed to be idlebefore the transmitting entity transmits on the channel. In an example,Category 4 (e.g. LBT with random back-off with a contention window ofvariable size) may be implemented. The transmitting entity may draw arandom number N within a contention window. The size of contentionwindow may be specified by the minimum and maximum value of N. Thetransmitting entity may vary the size of the contention window whendrawing the random number N. The random number N is used in the LBTprocedure to determine the duration of time that the channel is sensedto be idle before the transmitting entity transmits on the channel.

LAA may employ uplink LBT at the UE. The UL LBT scheme may be differentfrom the DL LBT scheme (e.g. by using different LBT mechanisms orparameters) for example, since the LAA UL is based on scheduled accesswhich affects a UE's channel contention opportunities. Otherconsiderations motivating a different UL LBT scheme include, but are notlimited to, multiplexing of multiple UEs in a single subframe.

In an example, a DL transmission burst may be a continuous transmissionfrom a DL transmitting node with no transmission immediately before orafter from the same node on the same CC. An UL transmission burst from aUE perspective may be a continuous transmission from a UE with notransmission immediately before or after from the same UE on the sameCC. In an example, UL transmission burst is defined from a UEperspective. In an example, an UL transmission burst may be defined froman eNB perspective. In an example, in case of an eNB operating DL+UL LAAover the same unlicensed carrier, DL transmission burst(s) and ULtransmission burst(s) on LAA may be scheduled in a TDM manner over thesame unlicensed carrier. For example, an instant in time may be part ofa DL transmission burst or an UL transmission burst.

In an example, a base station may configure a wireless device with aplurality of logical channels. A logical channel may correspond to atleast one data radio bearer and/or at least one signaling radio bearer.A radio bearer and/or a signaling bearer may be associated with aquality of service (QoS) requirement (e.g., throughput, latency, jitter,etc.). The logical channel configuration parameters may comprise aplurality of parameters such as priority and/or prioritized bit rate(PBR) and/or bucket size duration (BSD), etc. In an example, one or moreof the parameters configured for one or more logical channels may beemployed by a logical channel prioritization procedure to multiplex datafrom a plurality of logical channels in a transport block (TB). Theconfiguration parameters for a logical channel may indicate if a logicalchannel may be mapped to a cell type (e.g., licensed, unlicensed,mm-Wave, ultra-high frequency, etc.). The configuration parameters for alogical channel may indicate if a logical channel may be mapped to a TTItype/duration and/or a numerology and/or a service type (e.g., URLLC,eMBB, eMTC, etc.). The configuration parameters for a logical channelmay indicate the maximum TTI duration that a logical channel may bemapped to.

In an example, a base station may control mapping of a logical channel(e.g., by the wireless device) to one or more numerologies and/ortransmission time intervals (TTIs), e.g. TTI durations and/or cellsand/or service types and/or groups. In an example, the mapping may besemi-static (e.g., with RRC configuration), dynamic (e.g., usingphysical layer and/or MAC layer signalling), pre-configured at thewireless device, hard split/soft split, etc. In an example, a wirelessdevice may support a plurality of TTIs and/or numerologies from a singlecell. In an example, a plurality of TTIs and/or numerologies and/orcells may be handled by a plurality of MAC entities. In an example, theplurality of TTIs and/or numerologies and/or cells may be grouped (e.g.,based on band, types of service/QoS, etc.) and a group ofTTIs/numerologies/cells may be handled by a MAC entity. In an example,the plurality of TTIs and/or numerologies and/or cells may be handled bya single MAC entity.

In an example, network/gNB may configure a radio bearer to be mapped toone or more numerologies/TTI durations/cells/service types. In anexample, a MAC entity may support one or more numerologies/TTIdurations/cells. In an example, a logical channel may be mapped to oneor more numerologies/TTI durations/cells/cell types/service types. In anexample, one or more logical channels may be mapped to a numerology/TTIduration/cell/cell type/service type. In an example, a HARQ entity maysupport one or more numerologies/TTI durations/cells/cell types/servicetypes.

In an example embodiment, a wireless device may be configured withperiodic resource allocation (e.g., semi-persistent scheduling (SPS)and/or grant-free resource allocation). The term periodic resourceallocation and SPS or grant-free may have the same meaning in thisspecification. In an example, a base station may configure a pluralityof uplink SPS grants using a DCI/grant. In an example, the SPS grantsmay be configured periodically. In an example, a SPS period may beconfigured for the wireless device using RRC. In an example, frequencyresources (e.g., resource blocks, etc.) and/or time resources and/ormodulation and coding scheme (MCS) and/or redundancy version (RV), etc.,for SPS may be provided to the UE using RRC configuration and/or usinggrant/DCI.

In an example, an information element such as SPS-Config may be used toconfigure the semi-persistent scheduling configuration. ExampleSPS-Config information element is shown below. New IE formats may bedefined and additional fields may be added to support enhanced SPSmechanisms, e.g., including supporting a plurality of SPSs and/or aplurality of SPSs corresponding to a plurality of logical channelsand/or logical channel groups and/or TTIs and/or numerologies and/orcell types and/or service types. In an example, the SPS configurationmay comprise the TTI duration for a SPS and/or logical channels and/orlogical channel groups and/or numerologies and/or cell types and/orservice types for a configured SPS. In an example, plurality of SPSconfigurations may be configured for a plurality of logical channelsand/or logical channel groups and/or TTIs and/or numerologies and/orcell types and/or service types. In an example, the plurality of SPSconfigurations may be identified with a plurality of SPS indexes.Enhanced SPS-config IE may be implemented according to exampleembodiment to configure enhanced SPS according to example embodiments.In example embodiments, periodicity (e.g., time interval between twosubsequent periodic resource allocation/SPS/grant-free resourceallocation transmission occasions) may be based on one or parameters inRRC and/or an activation DCI. In example embodiments, a HARQ IDcorresponding to transport block transmitted on a transmission occasionof periodic resource allocation/SPS/grant-free resource allocation maybe based on one or parameters in RRC and/or an activation DCI.

SPS-Config ::= SEQUENCE { semiPersistSchedC-RNTI  C-RNTI OPTIONAL, --Need OR sps-ConfigDL SPS-ConfigDL OPTIONAL, -- Need ON sps-ConfigULSPS-ConfigUL OPTIONAL -- Need ON } SPS-ConfigDL ::= CHOICE{ releaseNULL, setup SEQUENCE { semiPersistSchedIntervalDL ENUMERATED { sf10,sf20, sf32, sf40, sf64, sf80, sf128, sf160, sf320, sf640, spare6,spare5, spare4, spare3, spare2, spare1}, numberOfConfSPS-ProcessesINTEGER (1..8), n1PUCCH-AN-PersistentList N1PUCCH-AN-PersistentList,..., [[ twoAntennaPortActivated-r10 CHOICE { release NULL, setupSEQUENCE { n1PUCCH-AN-PersistentListP1-r10 N1PUCCH-AN- PersistentList }} OPTIONAL -- Need ON ]] } } SPS-ConfigUL ::= CHOICE { release NULL,setup SEQUENCE { semiPersistSchedIntervalUL ENUMERATED { sf10, sf20,sf32, sf40, sf64, sf80, sf128, sf160, sf320, sf640, sf1-v14xy,sf2-v14xy, sf3-v14xy, sf4-v14xy, sf5-v14xy, spare1},implicitReleaseAfter ENUMERATED {e2, e3, e4, e8}, p0-Persistent SEQUENCE{ p0-NominalPUSCH-Persistent INTEGER (−126..24), p0-UE-PUSCH-PersistentINTEGER (−8..7) } OPTIONAL, -- Need OP twoIntervalsConfig ENUMERATED{true} OPTIONAL, -- Cond TDD ..., [[ p0-PersistentSubframeSet2-r12CHOICE { release NULL, setup SEQUENCE {p0-NominalPUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2-r12 INTEGER (−126..24),p0-UE-PUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2-r12 INTEGER (−8..7) } } OPTIONAL --Need ON ]], [[ numberOfConfUlSPS-Processes-r13 INTEGER (1..8) OPTIONAL-- Need OR ]] } } N1PUCCH-AN-PersistentList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..4))OF INTEGER (0..2047)

In an example, SPS configuration IE may be enhanced and multipledownlink or uplink SPS may be configured for a cell. In an example,multiple SPS RNTI may be configured when a plurality of SPS isconfigured. In an example, RRC may comprise an index identifying an SPSconfiguration for a cell. In an example, the DCI employing SPS RNTI andtriggering an SPS may include the index of the SPS that is triggered(initialized) or released.

In an example, SPS configuration may include MCS employed for packettransmission of an SPS grant. In an example, implicitReleaseAfter may bethe number of empty transmissions before implicit release. In anexample, the value e2 may correspond to 2 transmissions, e3 maycorrespond to 3 transmissions and so on. If skipUplinkTxSPS isconfigured, the UE may ignore this field.

In an example, n1PUCCH-AN-PersistentList, n1PUCCH-AN-PersistentListP1may be List of parameter: n_(PUCCH) ^((1,p)) for antenna port P0 and forantenna port P1 respectively. In an example, fieldn1-PUCCH-AN-PersistentListP1 may be applicable if thetwoAntennaPortActivatedPUCCH-Format1a1b in PUCCH-ConfigDedicated-v1020is set to true. Otherwise the field may not configured.

In an example, numberOfConfSPS-Processes may be the number of configuredHARQ processes for downlink Semi-Persistent Scheduling. In an example,numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes may be the number of configured HARQprocesses for uplink Semi-Persistent Scheduling. In an example, basestation may configure this field for asynchronous UL HARQ. In anexample, other configuration parameters may be used to indicate and/ordetermine HARQ process IDs for SPS transmissions in different SPSoccasions.

In an example, p0-NominalPUSCH-Persistent may be arameter:P_(O_NOMINALPUSCH)(0). In an example, its unit may be dBm with step 1.In an example, this field may be applicable for persistent scheduling.In an example, if choice setup is used and p0-Persistent is absent, thevalue of p0-NominalPUSCH for p0-NominalPUSCH-Persistent may be applied.In an example, if uplink power control subframe sets are configured bytpc-SubframeSet, this field may apply for uplink power control subframeset 1.

In an example, p0-NominalPUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2 may be theParameter: In an example, its unit may be dBm with step 1. In anexample, this field may be applicable for persistent scheduling. In anexample, if p0-PersistentSubframeSet2-r12 is not configured, the valueof p0-NominalPUSCH-SubframeSet2-r12 forp0-NominalPUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2 may be applied. In an example,base station may configure this field if uplink power control subframesets are configured by tpc-SubframeSet, in which case this field mayapply for uplink power control subframe set 2.

In an example, p0-UE-PUSCH-Persistent may be the parameter:P_(O_UE_PUSCH)(0). In an example, its unit may be in dB. In an example,this field may be applicable for persistent scheduling. In an example,if choice setup is used and p0-Persistent is absent, the value ofp0-UE-PUSCH for p0-UE-PUSCH-Persistent may be applied. In an example, ifuplink power control subframe sets are configured by tpc-SubframeSet,this field may apply for uplink power control subframe set 1.

In an example, p0-UE-PUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2 may be the Parameter:P_(O_UE_PUSCH)(0). In an example, its unit may be in dB. In an example,this field may be applicable for persistent scheduling. In an example,if p0-PersistentSubframeSet2-r12 is not configured, the value ofp0-UE-PUSCH-SubframeSet2 for p0-UE-PUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2 may beapplied. In an example, base station may configure this field only ifuplink power control subframe sets are configured by tpc-SubframeSet, inwhich case this field may apply for uplink power control subframe set 2.

In an example, semiPersistSched C-RNTI may be the Semi-persistentScheduling C-RNTI. In an example, semiPersistSchedIntervalDL may be theSemi-persistent scheduling interval in downlink. In an example, itsvalue may be in number of sub-frames. In an example, a value sf10 maycorrespond to 10 sub-frames, sf20 may correspond to 20 sub-frames and soon. For TDD, the UE may round this parameter down to the nearest integer(of 10 sub-frames), e.g. sf10 may correspond to 10 sub-frames, sf32 maycorrespond to 30 sub-frames, sf128 may correspond to 120 sub-frames.Example embodiments enhance the configuration of SPS periods (e.g. incombination with DCI and/or a default duration and/or otherconfigured/pre-configured values).

In an example, semiPersistSchedIntervalUL may be the Semi-persistentscheduling interval in uplink. In an example, its value may be in numberof sub-frames. The value sf10 may correspond to 10 sub-frames, sf20 maycorrespond to 20 sub-frames and so on. For TDD, when the configuredSemi-persistent scheduling interval is greater than or equal to 10sub-frames, the UE may round this parameter down to the nearest integer(of 10 sub-frames), e.g. sf10 may correspond to 10 sub-frames, sf32 maycorrespond to 30 sub-frames, sf128 corresponds to 120 sub-frames.Example embodiments enhance the configuration of SPS periods (e.g. incombination with DCI and/or a default duration and/or otherconfigured/prec-configured values).

In an example, twoIntervalsConfig may be a trigger oftwo-intervals-Semi-Persistent Scheduling in uplink. In an example, ifthis field is present and the configured Semi-persistent schedulinginterval greater than or equal to 10 sub-frames, two-intervals-SPS maybe enabled for uplink. Otherwise, two-intervals-SPS may be disabled.

In an example, if skipUplinkTxSPS is configured, the UE may skip ULtransmissions for a configured uplink grant if no data is available fortransmission in the UE buffer. In an example, base station may configureskipUplinkTxSPS when semiPersistSchedIntervalUL is shorter than athreshold period. In an example, the threshold may be pre-configured andor configured for the wireless device.

In an example, a wireless device may be configured with uplink skippingfor SPS. In an example, the SPS uplink skipping configuration may beusing RRC. In an example, for a UE configured with SPS uplink skipping,the UE may not transmit a signal (e.g., no TB transmission and/orpadding transmission) if the UE has no data that may be mapped to theSPS grant. In an example, a wireless device configured with uplinkskipping may transmit an acknowledgement (e.g., SPS confirmation MAC CE)after receiving a DCI activating or releasing a SPS. In an example, awireless device configured with SPS uplink skipping may transmit one ormore signal and/or MAC CE (e.g., CSI and/or BSR and/or PHR, etc.) evenif the wireless device has no data to transmit.

In an example implementation, direction of a TTI for downlink and/oruplink transmission may be flexible. In an example, a plurality of TTIdurations may be used by a wireless device and/or base station. In anexample, a base station may configure a SPS for a wireless device withperiodicity less than 1 ms. For example, considering the URLLC latencyrequirement (e.g., user plane latency of 0.5 ms for UL and 0.5 ms forDL), SPS period smaller than 1 ms may be configured if SPS is used forURLLC. In an example, transmission direction and TTI duration of SPS maybe kept unchanged between SPS occasions.

In an example embodiment, a grant/DCI may activate SPS for a wirelessdevice. The grant/DCI may indicate a TTI duration for the SPS. In anexample, the grant/DCI may indicate an index for a TTI. The TTI durationcorresponding to the index may be preconfigured and/or configured by theRRC. In an example, a TTI duration for a SPS may be configured by RRC.In an example, RRC may configure the logical channel(s) and/or logicalchannel group(s) and/or service type(s) (e.g., URLLC, eMBB, eMTC, etc.)corresponding to a SPS. A TTI duration and/or numerology correspondingto the logical channel(s) and/or logical channel group(s) and/or servicetype(s) corresponding to a SPS may be known from a TTI duration and/ornumerology that the logical channel(s) and/or logical channel group(s)and/or the service type(s) may be mapped to. In an example, the mappingbetween the logical channel(s) and/or logical channel group(s) and/orservice type(s) to TTI (e.g., TTI duration)/numerology may be configuredfor the wireless device (e.g., using RRC) and/or pre-configured and/ordynamically indicated to the wireless device. In an example, RRC mayconfigure an absolute SPS period (e.g., in terms of number of TTIs).

In an example embodiment, the SPS period, in terms of time, may beobtained by multiplying the absolute SPS period by a TTI durationindicated in the grant/DCI or configured by RRC and/or a duration basedon the TTI duration indicated in the grant/DCI or configured by RRC. Inexample, the wireless device may employ a first state variable (e.g.,CURRENT_TTIj) corresponding to a first TTI duration (e.g., TTIj). Thefirst TTI duration may be the TTI duration corresponding to the firstTTI occasion and/or the subsequent SPS occasions. The wireless devicemay increment the first state variable after a TTIj duration. Thewireless device may reset the first state variable after a first number(e.g., Kj) is reached. In an example, the first number may bepre-configured. In an example, RRC may configure a SPS period (e.g., anabsolute period e.g., in terms of TTIs). In an example, the RRCconfigured SPS period may be called semiPersistSchedInterval. In anexample, the Nth SPS grant occasion may be at a TTI where CURRENT_TTIjsatisfies the following equation:CURRENT_TTIj=(CURRENT_TTIj, start+N*semiPersistSchedInterval) modulo Kjwhere CURRENT_TTIj, start is the CURRENT_TTIj associated with a firstoccurring SPS occasion.

In an example, at least one RRC message comprises first periodicresource allocation configuration parameters comprising a firstperiodicity parameter (e.g. called absolute SPS period) of a firstperiodic resource allocation. The SPS period, in terms of time, may beobtained by multiplying the first periodicity parameter by a firstduration (e.g., a default TTI duration and/or a first number of symbolduration(s), etc.). A base station may transmit a DCI (e.g. activationDCI) indicating activation of the first periodic resource allocation,wherein the downlink control information comprises one or more firstfields. In an example, the first periodicity parameter indicates anumber symbols; the one or more first fields indicate a symbol duration.The time interval between two subsequent transmission occasions may bebased on the number of symbols multiplied with the symbol duration. Inan example, the first duration may be one or more subframes, one or moreslot durations, one or more mini-slot durations, and/or one or moresymbols, etc. In an example, the first duration may be a fraction of asubframe (e.g., 0.2, 0.5, etc.). In an example, the first duration maybe pre-configured. In an example, the first duration may be configuredfor the wireless device (e.g., using RRC). In an example, the firstduration may be dynamically indicated (e.g., in DCI e.g. the SPSactivating DCI) to the wireless device. In an example, the wirelessdevice may define a state variable (e.g., CURRENT_TTI). The wirelessdevice may increment the state variable after a first duration (e.g.,default TTI). The wireless device may reset the state variable after anumber is reached (e.g., K). In an example, RRC may configure a SPSperiod (e.g., an absolute period e.g., in terms of TTIs). In an example,the RRC configured SPS period may be called semiPersistSchedInterval. Inan example, the Nth SPS grant occasion may be at a TTI where CURRENT_TTIsatisfies the following equation:CURRENT_TTI=(CURRENT_TTIstart+N*semiPersistSchedInterval) modulo Kwhere CURRENT_TTIstart is the CURRENT_TTI associated with a firstoccurring SPS occasion.

Implementation of existing periodic resource allocation mechanisms (e.g.semi-persistent scheduling, configured grant type 1 or 2, etc) whenmultiple numerologies (e.g. multiple symbol durations, TTI durations,etc) are implemented results in inefficient resource allocation. Thereis a need to provide additional flexibility and efficiency in periodicresource allocation when various numerologies are implemented in awireless network. Example embodiments provide enhanced periodic resourceallocation mechanisms (e.g. for configured grants in New Radio) whenvarious numerologies supporting different symbol durations areimplemented. Example embodiments enable flexible configuration ofperiodicity for a configured grant based on multiple parameters. In anexample, the multiple parameters may be configured by RRC. In anexample, the multiple parameters may be semi-statically configured byRRC or dynamically indicated by DCI. Example embodiments improves uplinkresource efficiency and enables supporting services with various QoSrequirements such as eMBB, and URLLC.

In an example, a first RRC configured periodicity parameter may be basedon TTI/symbol duration, and the DCI that activates the SPS/grant-freeresource allocation may determine the TTI/symbol duration, and thisprovides the flexibility needed to support various services in a newradio supporting URLLC, etc. In an example, a first RRC configuredperiodicity parameter may be based on TTI/symbol duration, and a secondRRC configured parameter may indicate the TTI/symbol duration.

An example embodiment is shown in FIG. 15. In an example, a wirelessdevice may receive from a base station one or more radio resourcecontrol (RRC) messages. The one or more RRC messages may comprise firstperiodic resource allocation configuration parameters. The firstperiodic resource allocation configuration parameters may correspond toa first periodic resource allocation. In an example, the first periodicresource allocation may correspond to a first grant-free resourceallocation. In an example, the first grant-free resource allocation maybe a type-1 grant-free resource allocation. With the type-1 grant-freeresource allocation, a plurality of resources may be activated inresponse to receiving the first periodic resource allocationconfiguration parameters (e.g., configuration parameters of the firsttype-1 grant-free resource allocation). In an example, the firstgrant-free resource allocation may be a type-2 grant-free resourceallocation. With the type-2 grant-free resource allocation, a pluralityof resources may be activated in response to receiving the firstperiodic resource allocation configuration parameters (e.g.,configuration parameters of the first type-2 grant-free resourceallocation) and receiving an activation DCI activating the first type-2grant-free resource allocation. In an example, the first periodicresource allocation may correspond to a semi-persistent schedulingresource allocation. In an example, the first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters may comprise a periodicity parameterof the first periodic resource allocation. In an example, a periodicityof the first periodic resource allocation (e.g., time interval betweentwo subsequent transmission occasions) may be at least based on thefirst periodicity parameter configured by the RRC. In an example, thefirst periodic resource allocation configuration parameters may compriseone or more other parameters. The one or more other parameters maycomprise a radio network temporary identifier.

In an example, the wireless device may receive a DCI indicatingactivation of the first periodic resource allocation. In an example, thefirst periodic resource allocation may be a type-2 grant-free resourceallocation. The wireless device may activate a plurality of resources inresponse to receiving the DCI. In an example, the DCI may be associatedwith the radio network temporary identifier (e.g., configured with RRCfor the first periodic resource allocation). The DCI may comprise aplurality of fields comprising one or more resource allocationparameters, one or more power control parameters, one or moreHARQ-related parameters, etc. In an example, the DCI may comprise one ormore first fields. In an example, the DCI may indicate radio resourcesfor transmission of a plurality of transport blocks. In an example, theDCI may comprise one or more second fields indicating the radioresources for transmission of the plurality of transport blocks. In anexample, the DCI may indicate one or more transmission durations up to afirst value. In an example, a transmission duration in the one or moretransmission durations may correspond to a transport block/packetduration. In an example, a transmission duration in the one or moretransmission durations may correspond to a transmission time interval(TTI). In an example, a transmission duration in the one or moretransmission durations may correspond to a PUSCH transmission duration.The first value may be a maximum transmission duration value. In anexample, a transmission duration in the one or more transmissiondurations may correspond to one or more logical channels. In an examplethe wireless device may validate the DCI as a periodic resourceallocation activation DCI before activating the plurality of resourcescorresponding to the periodic resource allocation. In an example, atleast a new data indicator (NDI) filed of the DCI may be zero tovalidate the DCI as the periodic resource allocation activation DCI. Inan example, the one or more first fields in the DCI may indicate anumerology. In an example, the numerology may indicate one or moreparameters comprising subcarrier spacing, symbol duration, cyclic prefixduration, etc. In an example, the one or more fields may indicate atransmission time interval (TTI). In an example the TTI may indicate atransport block/packet transmission duration.

In an example, the wireless device may transmit a plurality of transportblocks via radio resources associated with the first periodic resourceallocation. In an example, a time interval between two subsequenttransmission occasions may be based on the one or more first fields andthe first periodicity parameter (e.g., as configured by the RRC). In anexample, a symbol duration for determining the interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions may be based on the one or more firstfields. The wireless device may obtain the time interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions by multiplying the symbol duration andthe periodicity parameter indicated by the RRC.

In an example embodiment, a wireless device may receive from a basestation one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages. The one ormore RRC messages may comprise first periodic resource allocationconfiguration parameters. The first periodic resource allocationconfiguration parameters may correspond to a first periodic resourceallocation. In an example, the first periodic resource allocation maycorrespond to a first grant-free resource allocation. In an example, thefirst grant-free resource allocation may be a type-1 grant-free resourceallocation. With the type-1 grant-free resource allocation, a pluralityof resources may be activated in response to receiving the firstperiodic resource allocation configuration parameters (e.g.,configuration parameters of the first type-1 grant-free resourceallocation). In an example, the first grant-free resource allocation maybe a type-2 grant-free resource allocation. With the type-2 grant-freeresource allocation, a plurality of resources may be activated inresponse to receiving the first periodic resource allocationconfiguration parameters (e.g., configuration parameters of the firsttype-2 grant-free resource allocation) and receiving an activation DCIactivating the first type-2 grant-free resource allocation. In anexample, the first periodic resource allocation may correspond to asemi-persistent scheduling resource allocation. In an example, the firstperiodic resource allocation configuration parameters may comprise aperiodicity parameter of the first periodic resource allocation. In anexample, the first periodic resource allocation configuration parametersmay comprise a second parameter. The second parameter may indicate anumerology parameter. In an example, the numerology parameter maydetermine a plurality of parameters comprising a symbol duration, asubcarrier spacing, etc. In an example, a periodicity of the firstperiodic resource allocation (e.g., time interval between two subsequenttransmission occasions) may be at least based on the first periodicityparameter and the second parameter configured by the RRC. In an example,the first periodic resource allocation configuration parameters maycomprise one or more other parameters. The one or more other parametersmay comprise a radio network temporary identifier.

In an example, the wireless device may transmit a plurality of transportblocks via radio resources associated with the first periodic resourceallocation. In an example, a time interval between two subsequenttransmission occasions may be based on the first periodicity parameterand the second parameter (e.g., as configured by the RRC). In anexample, a symbol duration for determining the interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions may be based on the second parameter.The wireless device may obtain/determine the time interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions by multiplying the symbol duration andthe periodicity parameter indicated by the RRC. In an example, the firstperiodicity parameter indicates a number of symbols. The secondparameter indicate a symbol duration. The time interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions is based on the number of symbolsmultiplied with the symbol duration. In an example, the firstperiodicity parameter indicates a number of transmission time intervals.The second parameter indicates a transmission time interval duration.The time interval between two subsequent transmission occasions is basedon the number of transmission time intervals multiplied with thetransmission time interval duration.

In an example embodiment, the base station may configure a SPS for awireless device with an offset value (e.g., 0, 1, . . . ). In anexample, the offset may be configured using RRC. In an example, theoffset may be dynamically indicated (e.g., using DCI and/or MAC CE,etc.). In an example, the wireless device may determine the SPSoccasions using a SPS period (e.g., configured by RRC) and/or the offsetvalue and/or a first duration (e.g., a default TTI and/or a first numberof symbols and/or a first number of subframes and/or a first number ofslots and/or a first number of mini-slots, etc.).

In an example, in order to transmit on an UL-SCH the MAC entity may needto have a valid uplink grant (e.g., except for non-adaptive HARQretransmissions). In an example, the MAC entity may receive the uplinkgrant dynamically (e.g., on the PDCCH) or in a Random Access Response orwhich may be configured semi-persistently. In an example 1, to performrequested transmissions, the MAC layer may receive HARQ information fromlower layers. When the physical layer is configured for uplink spatialmultiplexing, the MAC layer may receive one or more grants (e.g., up totwo grants e.g., one per HARQ process) for a same TTI from lower layers.

In an example, MAC entity may be configured with a C-RNTI, aSemi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI, or a Temporary C-RNTI. In an example,for each TTI and for each Serving Cell belonging to a TAG that has arunning timeAlignmentTimer and for each grant received for this TTI: ifan uplink grant for this TTI and this Serving Cell has been received onthe PDCCH for the MAC entity's C-RNTI or Temporary C-RNTI or if anuplink grant for this TTI has been received in a Random Access Response:if the uplink grant is for MAC entity's C-RNTI and if the previousuplink grant delivered to the HARQ entity for the same HARQ process waseither an uplink grant received for the MAC entity's Semi-PersistentScheduling C-RNTI or a configured uplink grant: the MAC entity mayconsider the NDI to have been toggled for the corresponding HARQ processregardless of the value of the NDI. The MAC entity may deliver theuplink grant and the associated HARQ information to the HARQ entity forthis TTI. Otherwise, if this Serving Cell is the SpCell and if an uplinkgrant for this TTI has been received for the SpCell on the PDCCH of theSpCell for the MAC entity's Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI and if theNDI in the received HARQ information is 1, the MAC entity may considerthe NDI for the corresponding HARQ process not to have been toggled. TheMAC entity may deliver the uplink grant and the associated HARQinformation to the HARQ entity for this TTI. Otherwise if the NDI in thereceived HARQ information is 0: if PDCCH contents indicate SPS release:if the MAC entity is configured with skipUplinkTxSPS: the MAC entity maytrigger an SPS confirmation. if an uplink grant for this TTI has beenconfigured: the MAC entity may consider the NDI bit for thecorresponding HARQ process to have been toggled. The MAC entity maydeliver the configured uplink grant and the associated HARQ informationto the HARQ entity for this TTI. Otherwise, the MAC entity may clear theconfigured uplink grant (if any). Otherwise if the MAC entity isconfigured with skipUplinkTxSPS: the MAC entity may trigger an SPSconfirmation. The MAC entity may store the uplink grant and theassociated HARQ information as configured uplink grant. The MAC entitymay initialise (if not active) or re-initialise (if already active) theconfigured uplink grant to start in this TTI and to recur according toSPS rules. If UL HARQ operation is asynchronous, the MAC entity may setthe HARQ Process ID to the HARQ Process ID associated with this TTI. TheMAC entity may consider the NDI bit for the corresponding HARQ processto have been toggled. The MAC entity may deliver the configured uplinkgrant and the associated HARQ information to the HARQ entity for thisTTI. Otherwise, if this Serving Cell is the SpCell and an uplink grantfor this TTI has been configured for the SpCell: if UL HARQ operation isasynchronous, the MAC entity may set the HARQ Process ID to the HARQProcess ID associated with this TTI. The MAC entity may consider the NDIbit for the corresponding HARQ process to have been toggled. The MACentity may deliver the configured uplink grant, and the associated HARQinformation to the HARQ entity for this TTI.

In an example, the period of configured uplink grants MAY BE expressedin TTIs.

In an example, if the MAC entity receives both a grant in a RandomAccess Response and a grant for its C-RNTI or Semi persistent schedulingC-RNTI requiring transmissions on the SpCell in the same UL subframe,the MAC entity may choose to continue with either the grant for itsRA-RNTI or the grant for its C-RNTI or Semi persistent schedulingC-RNTI.

In an example, when a configured uplink grant is indicated during ameasurement gap and indicates an UL-SCH transmission during ameasurement gap, the MAC entity may process the grant but may nottransmit on UL-SCH. In an example, when a configured uplink grant isindicated during a Sidelink Discovery gap for reception and indicates anUL-SCH transmission during a Sidelink Discovery gap for transmissionwith a SL-DCH transmission, the MAC entity may process the grant but maynot transmit on UL-SCH.

In an example, a gNB may transmit dynamic uplink grants to a wirelessdevice for retransmissions of packets/TBs transmitted using SPS grants.In an example, when the gNB fails to decode an UL transmission, it maysend an UL grant to wireless device for retransmission. In an example,reception of an UL grant may be interpreted as a NACK and not receivingan uplink grant may indicate an ACK to the wireless device. In anexample, a UE may assume ACK unless an UL grant for retransmission isreceived. In an example, the base station may configure a maximumfeedback timer for a wireless device wherein the wireless devices maystart a timer after transmission of TB using a SPS grant. If thewireless device does not receive an uplink grant while the timer isrunning, the wireless device may assume that the base station hasreceived the TB correctly. The wireless device may reuse thecorresponding HARQ process.

In an example embodiment, a DCI activating a SPS for a wireless deviceindicates the HARQ process ID for a first SPS occasion. In an example,the wireless device may use a rule to determine the HARQ process ID forsubsequent SPS occasions. In an example, the HARQ IDs for subsequent SPSoccasions may increase sequentially within a pool of HARQ process IDs.In an example, the pool of HARQ process IDs may be from 0 tonumberOfConfU1SPS-Processes-1 where numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes isconfigured for the wireless device. In an example, the pool of HARQprocess IDs may be from process #1 to process #2 where process #1 and/orprocess #2 may be configured for the wireless device. In an example,numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes and/or process #1 and/or process #2 may beindicated using the DCI activating the SPS. In an example,numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes and/or process #1 and/or process #2 may beconfigured using RRC. In an example, the HARQ process ID may notincrease for a SPS occasion if uplink skipping is configured and ifwireless device does not transmit at the SPS occasion due to lack ofdata (e.g., lack of data mappable to the SPS grant).

In an example embodiment, the HARQ process ID for a first SPS occasionmay be pre-configured to a first value (e.g., 0, 1, 2, etc.). In anexample, the wireless device may use a rule to determine the HARQprocess ID for subsequent SPS occasions. In an example, the HARQ IDs forsubsequent SPS occasions may increase sequentially within a pool of HARQprocess IDs. In an example, the pool of HARQ process IDs may be from 0to numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes-1 where numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes isconfigured for the wireless device. In an example, the pool of HARQprocess IDs may be from process #1 to process #2 where process #1 and/orprocess #2 may be configured for the wireless device. In an example,numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes and/or process #1 and/or process #2 may beindicated using the DCI activating the SPS. In an example,numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes and/or process #1 and/or process #2 may beconfigured using RRC. In an example, the HARQ process ID may notincrease for a SPS occasion if uplink skipping is configured and ifwireless device does not transmit at the SPS occasion due to lack ofdata (e.g., lack of data mappable to the SPS grant).

In an example embodiment, the HARQ process ID for a first SPS occasionmay be configured using RRC. In an example, the wireless device may usea rule to determine the HARQ process ID for subsequent SPS occasions. Inan example, the HARQ IDs for subsequent SPS occasions may increasesequentially within a pool of HARQ process IDs. In an example, the poolof HARQ process IDs may be from 0 to numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes-1 wherenumberOfConfU1SPS-Processes is configured for the wireless device. In anexample, the pool of HARQ process IDs may be from process #1 to process#2 where process #1 and/or process #2 may be configured for the wirelessdevice. In an example, numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes and/or process #1and/or process #2 may be indicated using the DCI activating the SPS. Inan example, numberOfConfU1SPS-Processes and/or process #1 and/or process#2 may be configured using RRC. In an example, the HARQ process ID maynot increase for a SPS occasion if uplink skipping is configured and ifwireless device does not transmit at the SPS occasion due to lack ofdata (e.g., lack of data mappable to the SPS grant).

In example, the wireless device may define a first state variable (e.g.,CURRENT_TTIj) corresponding to a first TTI duration (e.g., TTIj). Thefirst TTI duration may be the TTI duration corresponding to the firstTTI occasion and/or the subsequent SPS occasions. In an example, thefirst TTI duration (and/or TTI durations for subsequent SPS occasions)may be indicated in a DCI activating the SPS. In an example, the firstTTI duration may be configured and/or indicated using RRC. The wirelessdevice may increment the first state variable after a TTIj duration. Thewireless device may reset the first state variable after a first number(e.g., Kj) is reached. In an example, the first number may bepre-configured. In an example, RRC may configure a SPS period (e.g., anabsolute period e.g., in terms of TTIs). In an example, the RRCconfigured SPS period may be called semiPersistSchedInterval. In anexample, the base station may configure the wireless device with aparameter numberOfConfU1SPS. In an example, the base station mayconfigure the wireless device with parameters process1 and process2.

In an example, the HARQ process ID associated with this TTI(corresponding to CURRENT_TTIj) may be derived using the followingequation for asynchronous uplink HARQ operation:HARQ Process ID=[floor(CURRENT_TTIj/semiPersistSchedIntervalUL)] modulonumberOfConfU1SPS-Processes,where:CURRENT_TTIj=SFN*10*(number of TTIjs in a subframe)+SF number*(number ofTTIjs in a subframe)+TTIj number in the subframe. The floor of a number(e.g., X) may be the largest number smaller than X. For example, floor(4.3)=4, floor(5.1)=5, etc.

In an example, the HARQ process ID associated with this TTI(corresponding to CURRENT_TTIj) may be derived using the followingequation for asynchronous uplink HARQ operation:HARQ ProcessID=process1+[floor(CURRENT_TTIj/semiPersistSchedIntervalUL)] modulo(process2−process1),where:CURRENT_TTIj=SFN*10*(number of TTIjs in a subframe)+SF number*(number ofTTIjs in a subframe)+TTIj number in the subframe.

Implementation of existing periodic resource allocation mechanisms (e.g.semi-persistent scheduling, configured grant type 1 or 2, etc) whenmultiple numerologies (e.g. multiple symbol durations, TTI durations,etc) are implemented results in inefficient resource allocation. Thereis a need to provide additional flexibility and efficiency in periodicresource allocation when various numerologies are implemented in awireless network. Example embodiments provide enhanced periodic resourceallocation mechanisms (e.g. for configured grants in New Radio) whenvarious numerologies supporting different symbol durations areimplemented. Example embodiments enhance the process for HARQ identifierdetermination of a transport block associated with a periodic resourceallocation. based on multiple parameters. In an example, the multipleparameters may be configured by RRC. In an example, the multipleparameters may be semi-statically configured by RRC or dynamicallyindicated by DCI. Example embodiments improves uplink resourceefficiency and enables supporting services with various QoS requirementssuch as eMBB, and URLLC.

In an example, a first RRC configured periodicity parameter may be basedon TTI/symbol duration, and the DCI that activates the SPS/grant-freeresource allocation may determine the TTI/symbol duration, and thisprovides the flexibility needed to support various services in a newradio supporting URLLC, etc. In an example, a first RRC configuredperiodicity parameter may be based on TTI/symbol duration, and a secondRRC configured parameter may indicate the TTI/symbol duration.

An example embodiment is shown in FIG. 16. In an example, a wirelessdevice may receive from a base station one or more radio resourcecontrol (RRC) messages. The one or more RRC messages may comprise firstperiodic resource allocation configuration parameters. The firstperiodic resource allocation configuration parameters may correspond toa first periodic resource allocation. In an example, the first periodicresource allocation may correspond to a first grant-free resourceallocation. In an example, the first grant-free resource allocation maybe a type-1 grant-free resource allocation. With the type-1 grant-freeresource allocation, a plurality of resources are activated in responseto receiving the first periodic resource allocation configurationparameters (e.g., configuration parameters of the first type-1grant-free resource allocation). In an example, the first grant-freeresource allocation may be a type-2 grant-free resource allocation. Withthe type-2 grant-free resource allocation, a plurality of resources areactivated in response to receiving the first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters (e.g., configuration parameters ofthe first type-2 grant-free resource allocation) and receiving anactivation DCI activating the first type-2 grant-free resourceallocation. In an example, the first periodic resource allocation maycorrespond to a semi-persistent scheduling resource allocation. In anexample, the first periodic resource allocation configuration parametersmay comprise a periodicity parameter of the first periodic resourceallocation. In an example, a periodicity of the first periodic resourceallocation (e.g., time interval between two subsequent transmissionoccasions) may be at least based on the first periodicity parameterconfigured by the RRC. In an example, the first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters may comprise one or more otherparameters. The one or more other parameters may comprise a radionetwork temporary identifier.

In an example, the wireless device may receive a DCI indicatingactivation of the first periodic resource allocation. In an example, thefirst periodic resource allocation may be a type-2 grant-free resourceallocation. The wireless device may activate a plurality of resources inresponse to receiving the DCI. In an example, the DCI may be associatedwith the radio network temporary identifier (e.g., configured with RRCfor the first periodic resource allocation). The DCI may comprise aplurality of fields comprising one or more resource allocationparameters, one or more power control parameters, one or moreHARQ-related parameters, etc. In an example, the DCI may comprise one ormore first fields. In an example, the DCI may indicate radio resourcesfor transmission of a plurality of transport blocks. In an example, theDCI may comprise one or more second fields indicating the radioresources for transmission of the plurality of transport blocks. In anexample, the DCI may indicate one or more transmission durations up to afirst value. In an example, a transmission duration in the one or moretransmission durations may correspond to a transport block/packetduration. In an example, a transmission duration in the one or moretransmission durations may correspond to a transmission time interval(TTI). In an example, a transmission duration in the one or moretransmission durations may correspond to a PUSCH transmission duration.The first value may be a maximum transmission duration value. In anexample, a transmission duration in the one or more transmissiondurations may correspond to one or more logical channels. In an examplethe wireless device may validate the DCI as a periodic resourceallocation activation DCI before activating the plurality of resourcescorresponding to the periodic resource allocation. In an example, atleast a new data indicator (NDI) filed of the DCI may be zero tovalidate the DCI as the periodic resource allocation activation DCI. Inan example, the one or more first fields in the DCI may indicate anumerology. In an example, the numerology may indicate one or moreparameters comprising subcarrier spacing, symbol duration, cyclic prefixduration, etc. In an example, the one or more fields may indicate atransmission time interval (TTI). In an example the TTI may indicate atransport block/packet transmission duration.

In an example, the wireless device may transmit a plurality of transportblocks via radio resources associated with the first periodic resourceallocation. In an example, the wireless device may transmit a transportblock associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processidentifier via radio resources associated with the first periodicresource allocation. The HARQ identifier may be based on the one or morefirst field and the first periodicity parameter (e.g., as configured bythe RRC).

According to various embodiments, a device such as, for example, awireless device, off-network wireless device, a base station, and/or thelike, may comprise one or more processors and memory. The memory maystore instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors,cause the device to perform a series of actions. Embodiments of exampleactions are illustrated in the accompanying figures and specification.Features from various embodiments may be combined to create yet furtherembodiments.

FIG. 17 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 1710, a wireless device receives one or moreradio resource control messages. The one or more radio resource controlmessages may comprise first periodic resource allocation configurationparameters comprising a first periodicity parameter of a first periodicresource allocation. At 1720, a downlink control information indicatingactivation of the first periodic resource allocation may be received.The downlink control information may comprise one or more first fields.At 1730, a plurality of transport blocks may be transmitted via radioresources associated with the first periodic resource allocation. A timeinterval between two subsequent transmission occasions of the firstperiodic resource allocation may be based on the one or more firstfields and the first periodicity parameter.

According to an embodiment, the one or more first fields may indicate anumerology, wherein the numerology indicates a symbol duration.According to an embodiment, the first periodicity parameter indicates anumber of symbols; the one or more first fields may indicate a symbolduration and the time interval between two subsequent transmissionoccasions is based on the number of symbols multiplied with the symbolduration. According to an embodiment, the first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters may comprise a radio networktemporary identifier. According to an embodiment, the downlink controlinformation may be associated with the radio network temporaryidentifier. According to an embodiment, the downlink control informationmay indicate radio resources for transmission of the plurality oftransport blocks. According to an embodiment, the downlink controlinformation comprises one or more second fields, the radio resourcesbeing determined based on one or more second fields. According to anembodiment, the downlink control information may indicate one or moretransmission durations up to a first value for transmission of theplurality of transport blocks. According to an embodiment, atransmission duration in the one or more transmission duration maycorrespond to one or more logical channels. According to an embodiment,the first periodicity parameter may indicate a number of transmissiontime intervals; the one or more first fields may indicate a transmissiontime interval duration; and the time interval between two subsequenttransmission occasions may be based on the number of transmission timeintervals multiplied with the transmission time interval duration.

FIG. 18 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 1810, a wireless device receives one or moreradio resource control messages. The one or more radio resource controlmessages may comprise first periodic resource allocation configurationparameters comprising a first periodicity parameter of a first periodicresource allocation. At 1820, downlink control information indicatingactivation of the first periodic resource allocation may be received.The downlink control information may comprise one or more first fields.At 1830, a transport block associated with a hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ) process identifier may be transmitted via radio resourcesassociated with the first periodic resource allocation. The HARQidentifier may be based on the one or more first field and the firstperiodicity parameter.

According to an embodiment, the one or more first fields may indicate anumerology, wherein the numerology may indicate a symbol duration.According to an embodiment, the first periodicity parameter indicates anumber of symbols; the one or more first fields may indicate a symbolduration; and the time interval between two subsequent transmissionoccasions is based on the number of symbols multiplied with the symbolduration. According to an embodiment, the first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters may comprise a radio networktemporary identifier. According to an embodiment, the downlink controlinformation may be associated with the radio network temporaryidentifier. According to an embodiment, the downlink control informationmay indicate radio resources for transmission of the plurality of thetransport block. According to an embodiment, the downlink controlinformation comprises one or more second fields, the radio resourcesbeing determined based on one or more second fields. According to anembodiment, the downlink control information indicates one or moretransmission durations up to a first value for transmission of theplurality of transport blocks. According to an embodiment, atransmission duration in the one or more transmission duration maycorrespond to one or more logical channels. According to an embodiment,the first periodicity parameter may indicate a number of transmissiontime intervals; the one or more first fields may indicate a transmissiontime interval duration; and the time interval between two subsequenttransmission occasions may be based on the number of transmission timeintervals multiplied with the transmission time interval duration.

FIG. 19 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 1910, a base station may transmit one or moreradio resource control messages. The one or more radio resource controlmessages may comprise first periodic resource allocation configurationparameters comprising a first periodicity parameter of a first periodicresource allocation. At 1920, a downlink control information indicatingactivation of the first periodic resource allocation may be transmitted.The downlink control information may comprise one or more first fields.At 1930, a plurality of transport blocks may be received via radioresources associated with the first periodic resource allocation. A timeinterval between two subsequent transmission occasions of the firstperiodic resource allocation may be based on the one or more firstfields and the first periodicity parameter.

According to an embodiment, the one or more first fields may indicate anumerology, wherein the numerology indicates a symbol duration.According to an embodiment, the first periodicity parameter indicates anumber of symbols; the one or more first fields may indicate a symbolduration and the time interval between two subsequent transmissionoccasions is based on the number of symbols multiplied with the symbolduration. According to an embodiment, the first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters may comprise a radio networktemporary identifier. According to an embodiment, the downlink controlinformation may be associated with the radio network temporaryidentifier. According to an embodiment, the downlink control informationmay indicate radio resources for transmission of the plurality oftransport blocks. According to an embodiment, the downlink controlinformation comprises one or more second fields, the radio resourcesbeing determined based on one or more second fields. According to anembodiment, the downlink control information may indicate one or moretransmission durations up to a first value for transmission of theplurality of transport blocks. According to an embodiment, atransmission duration in the one or more transmission duration maycorrespond to one or more logical channels. According to an embodiment,the first periodicity parameter may indicate a number of transmissiontime intervals; the one or more first fields may indicate a transmissiontime interval duration; and the time interval between two subsequenttransmission occasions may be based on the number of transmission timeintervals multiplied with the transmission time interval duration.

FIG. 20 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 2010, a base station may transmit one or moreradio resource control messages. The one or more radio resource controlmessages may comprise first periodic resource allocation configurationparameters comprising a first periodicity parameter of a first periodicresource allocation. At 2020, downlink control information indicatingactivation of the first periodic resource allocation may be transmitted.The downlink control information may comprise one or more first fields.At 2030, a transport block associated with a hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ) process identifier may be received via radio resourcesassociated with the first periodic resource allocation. The HARQidentifier may be based on the one or more first field and the firstperiodicity parameter.

According to an embodiment, the one or more first fields may indicate anumerology, wherein the numerology may indicate a symbol duration.According to an embodiment, the first periodicity parameter indicates anumber of symbols; the one or more first fields may indicate a symbolduration; and the time interval between two subsequent transmissionoccasions is based on the number of symbols multiplied with the symbolduration. According to an embodiment, the first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters may comprise a radio networktemporary identifier. According to an embodiment, the downlink controlinformation may be associated with the radio network temporaryidentifier. According to an embodiment, the downlink control informationmay indicate radio resources for transmission of the plurality of thetransport block. According to an embodiment, the downlink controlinformation comprises one or more second fields, the radio resourcesbeing determined based on one or more second fields. According to anembodiment, the downlink control information indicates one or moretransmission durations up to a first value for transmission of theplurality of transport blocks. According to an embodiment, atransmission duration in the one or more transmission duration maycorrespond to one or more logical channels. According to an embodiment,the first periodicity parameter may indicate a number of transmissiontime intervals; the one or more first fields may indicate a transmissiontime interval duration; and the time interval between two subsequenttransmission occasions may be based on the number of transmission timeintervals multiplied with the transmission time interval duration.

FIG. 21 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 2110, a wireless device receives one or moreradio resource control messages. The one or more radio resource controlmessages may comprise first periodic resource allocation configurationparameters and a second parameter. The first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters may comprise a first periodicityparameter of a first periodic resource allocation. At 2120, a pluralityof transport blocks may be transmitted via radio resources associatedwith the first periodic resource allocation. A time interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions of the first periodic resourceallocation may be based on the second parameter and the firstperiodicity parameter.

According to an embodiment, the first periodicity parameter indicates anumber of symbols; the second parameter indicate a symbol duration; andthe time interval between two subsequent transmission occasions is basedon the number of symbols multiplied with the symbol duration. Accordingto an embodiment, the first periodicity parameter indicates a number oftransmission time intervals; the second parameter indicates atransmission time interval duration; and the time interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions is based on the number of transmissiontime intervals multiplied with the transmission time interval duration.

FIG. 22 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 2210, a base station transmits one or moreradio resource control messages. The one or more radio resource controlmessages may comprise first periodic resource allocation configurationparameters and a second parameter. The first periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters may comprise a first periodicityparameter of a first periodic resource allocation. At 2220, a pluralityof transport blocks may be received via radio resources associated withthe first periodic resource allocation. A time interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions of the first periodic resourceallocation may be based on the second parameter and the firstperiodicity parameter.

According to an embodiment, the first periodicity parameter indicates anumber of symbols; the second parameter indicate a symbol duration; andthe time interval between two subsequent transmission occasions is basedon the number of symbols multiplied with the symbol duration. Accordingto an embodiment, the first periodicity parameter indicates a number oftransmission time intervals; the second parameter indicates atransmission time interval duration; and the time interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions is based on the number of transmissiontime intervals multiplied with the transmission time interval duration.

In this specification, “a” and “an” and similar phrases are to beinterpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” In this specification,the term “may” is to be interpreted as “may, for example.” In otherwords, the term “may” is indicative that the phrase following the term“may” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities thatmay, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments.If A and B are sets and every element of A is also an element of B, A iscalled a subset of B. In this specification, only non-empty sets andsubsets are considered. For example, possible subsets of B={cell1,cell2} are: {cell1}, {cell2}, and {cell1, cell2}.

In this specification, parameters (Information elements: IEs) maycomprise one or more objects, and each of those objects may comprise oneor more other objects. For example, if parameter (IE) N comprisesparameter (IE) M, and parameter (IE) M comprises parameter (IE) K, andparameter (IE) K comprises parameter (information element) J, then, forexample, N comprises K, and N comprises J. In an example embodiment,when one or more messages comprise a plurality of parameters, it impliesthat a parameter in the plurality of parameters is in at least one ofthe one or more messages, but does not have to be in each of the one ormore messages.

Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may beimplemented as modules. A module is defined here as an isolatableelement that performs a defined function and has a defined interface toother elements. The modules described in this disclosure may beimplemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware,firmware, wetware (i.e hardware with a biological element) or acombination thereof, all of which are behaviorally equivalent. Forexample, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in acomputer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine (suchas C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, Matlab or the like) or amodeling/simulation program such as Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, orLabVIEWMathScript. Additionally, it may be possible to implement modulesusing physical hardware that incorporates discrete or programmableanalog, digital and/or quantum hardware. Examples of programmablehardware comprise: computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs); field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs); and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs).Computers, microcontrollers and microprocessors are programmed usinglanguages such as assembly, C, C++ or the like. FPGAs, ASICs and CPLDsare often programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) such asVHSIC hardware description language (VHDL) or Verilog that configureconnections between internal hardware modules with lesser functionalityon a programmable device. Finally, it needs to be emphasized that theabove mentioned technologies are often used in combination to achievethe result of a functional module.

The disclosure of this patent document incorporates material which issubject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection tothe facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent file or records, for the limited purposes required by law, butotherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example, and notlimitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevantart(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope. In fact, after reading theabove description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevantart(s) how to implement alternative embodiments. Thus, the presentembodiments should not be limited by any of the above describedexemplary embodiments. In particular, it should be noted that, forexample purposes, the above explanation has focused on the example(s)using FDD communication systems. However, one skilled in the art willrecognize that embodiments of the invention may also be implemented in asystem comprising one or more TDD cells (e.g. frame structure 2 and/orframe structure 3-licensed assisted access). The disclosed methods andsystems may be implemented in wireless or wireline systems. The featuresof various embodiments presented in this invention may be combined. Oneor many features (method or system) of one embodiment may be implementedin other embodiments. Only a limited number of example combinations areshown to indicate to one skilled in the art the possibility of featuresthat may be combined in various embodiments to create enhancedtransmission and reception systems and methods.

In addition, it should be understood that any figures which highlightthe functionality and advantages, are presented for example purposesonly. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible andconfigurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than thatshown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may bere-ordered or only optionally used in some embodiments.

Further, the purpose of the Abstract of the Disclosure is to enable theU.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, andespecially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art whoare not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determinequickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of thetechnical disclosure of the application. The Abstract of the Disclosureis not intended to be limiting as to the scope in any way.

Finally, it is the applicant's intent that only claims that include theexpress language “means for” or “step for” be interpreted under 35U.S.C. 112, paragraph 6. Claims that do not expressly include the phrase“means for” or “step for” are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: transmitting, by abase station, a radio resource control message comprising a periodicityparameter indicating a number of transmission time intervals for aperiodic resource allocation; transmitting a downlink controlinformation indicating activation of the periodic resource allocation,wherein the downlink control information comprises one or more fieldsindicating a transmission time interval duration; and receivingtransport blocks via resources associated with the periodic resourceallocation, wherein a time interval between two subsequent transmissionoccasions of the periodic resource allocation is determined based on thenumber of transmission time intervals multiplied with the transmissiontime interval duration.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the radioresource control message comprises a radio network temporary identifier.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the downlink control information isassociated with the radio network temporary identifier.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the downlink control information indicates theresources for the receiving of the transport blocks.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the downlink control information indicates theresources for the receiving of the transport blocks.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the downlink control information comprises one or moresecond fields, the resources being determined based on one or moresecond fields.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink controlinformation indicates one or more transmission durations up to a firstvalue for receiving of the transport blocks.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein a transmission duration in the one or more transmissiondurations corresponds to one or more logical channels.
 9. A base stationcomprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructionsthat, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the basestation to: transmit a radio resource control message comprising aperiodicity parameter indicating a number of transmission time intervalsfor a periodic resource allocation; transmit a downlink controlinformation indicating activation of the periodic resource allocation,wherein the downlink control information comprises one or more fieldsindicating a transmission time interval duration; and receive transportblocks via resources associated with the periodic resource allocation,wherein a time interval between two subsequent transmission occasions ofthe periodic resource allocation is determined based on the number oftransmission time intervals multiplied with the transmission timeinterval duration.
 10. The base station of claim 9, wherein the radioresource control message comprises a radio network temporary identifier.11. The base station of claim 10, wherein the downlink controlinformation is associated with the radio network temporary identifier.12. The base station of claim 9, wherein the downlink controlinformation indicates the resources for the receiving of the transportblocks.
 13. The base station of claim 12, wherein the downlink controlinformation comprises one or more second fields, the resources beingdetermined based on one or more second fields.
 14. The base station ofclaim 9, wherein the downlink control information indicates one or moretransmission durations up to a first value for receiving of thetransport blocks.
 15. The base station of claim 14, wherein atransmission duration in the one or more transmission durationscorresponds to one or more logical channels.
 16. A system comprising: abase station comprising: one or more processors; and memory storinginstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors of thebase station, cause the base station to: transmit a radio resourcecontrol message comprising a periodicity parameter indicating a numberof transmission time intervals for a periodic resource allocation;transmit a downlink control information indicating activation of theperiodic resource allocation, wherein the downlink control informationcomprises one or more fields indicating a transmission time intervalduration; and a wireless device comprising: one or more processors; andmemory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors of the wireless device, cause the wireless device to: receivethe radio resource control message; receive the downlink controlinformation; and transmit transport blocks via resources associated withthe periodic resource allocation, wherein a time interval between twosubsequent transmission occasions of the periodic resource allocation isdetermined based on the number of transmission time intervals multipliedwith the transmission time interval duration.